1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a box for delivering an oven-heated pizza with a taste and texture conforming to its state when the pizza was freshly prepared and removed from the oven.
2. Description of the Related Art
A pizzeria bakes a flat piece of dough topped with a tomato sauce and cheese, and often with other toppings, in an oven to make a pizza with a crisp, dry crust. Although the taste and texture of the pizza are optimum and best enjoyed when the freshly prepared pizza is eaten at the pizzeria, the pizza is often eaten off-premises at a consumer's home or office by being delivered in an individual paperboard box carried by a delivery person, often in an automobile to expedite the delivery.
The tomato sauce, as well as certain toppings, have an inherent high moisture content which is partially driven out during baking, but which continues to be emitted even after removal from the oven due to the high heat contained in the pizza. This emitted moisture becomes trapped in the box which is closed during delivery.
The trapped moisture is absorbed at least in part by the crust which, over time, tends to become soggy. The trapped moisture is also absorbed by the walls of the box, especially the bottom wall on which the pizza is placed. The bottom wall becomes, over time, soaked with the moisture, and loses its structural rigidity and also causes the pizza to stick to the bottom wall, thereby imparting an odd “cardboard” taste to the pizza.
Attempts have been made in the prior art to deliver a pizza without a soggy crust, without an odd taste, and without soaked boxes. Such attempts have included shortening the delivery time by racing the delivery automobile to its destination, providing vents in the delivery box to allow some of the trapped moisture to escape, providing a special compartment in the delivery automobile equipped with air blowers and ducts for circulating heated air around the box, and providing a special pouch in which the box is contained, again for maintaining the pizza warm, just to mention the attention paid to this delivery problem.
Experience has shown, however, that such attempts have been less than satisfactory. The more comprehensive attempts are beyond the means of the local pizza parlor and, even for the major pizza chains with greater financial resources, the pizza often arrives, just as before, with an undesirable taste and texture which detracts from its appeal.